Now you can learn Crystal Reports from an Expert without leaving your desk. These web-based seminars start at the very bottom and teach you everything you need to know in order to become a competant Crystal Report designer. All webinars will last for two hours. You will be sent an outline and sample database by email. Unless otherwise noted, the webinars start at 1pm Eastern Time and end at 3pm Eastern time.

CR101 - Introduction to Crystal Reports - Part One

Crystal Reports is a powerful analytical and reporting tool that can be used with almost any database. It's easy-to-use graphical interface makes designing even the most demanding reports intuitive. Yet, as with any powerful tool, you need to learn how to use it. There are no prerequsites for this course. We assume that you know how to use a standard computer and a mouse and that you have used Excel or a similar program in the past. In this course you will learn:

Basic reporting concepts

How to use Crystal's design and preview windows

How to enter, move and format fields

How to create text objects

To understand how to use Crystal Report sections

Crystal printing and exporting. Exporting to Excel

Create simple totals

Create summary and drill-down reports.

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course.

CR102 - Introduction to Crystal Reports - Part Two

You have created some simple reports but you know that the demands of your job are more complex. This course takes you to the next step. You will create subtotals, formulas and highlights. The concepts are more demanding but your instructor will lead the way. In this course you will learn:

How to use the group tree to access data very quickly

How to create ratios and other simple formulas

How to use the formula workshop and some widely-used functions

To use the IF..THEN..ELSE operator when your report requires it

To use logic when you want to conditionally format fields

How to create charts and graphs to display your data

Prerequisite: CR101 or similar experience or skills.

CR103 - Intermediate Crystal Reports - Part One

Your data resides in many tables. In order to create a meaningful and useful report you need to link tables together and do it in a accurrate way. Bad link will yield either more or less data than you want. Often you need to join data of different types. We will cover this and also show you how to create reports that can be used with more than one query. In this course you will learn:

How to use the formula workshop and how to modify the record selection using formulas

How to add tables from the same database

How to adjust linking options to get the data you want

How to link to an Excel speadsheet

To use Running totals when necessary

To format fields conditionally

How to create a parameter and use it to select records

Prerequisite: CR102 or similar experience or skills.

CR104 - Intermediate Crystal Reports - Part Two

You now have some very interesting reports. Yet there is more. You will now learn how to make your reports more interesting and easier to use by introducing advanced parameters. You will start to manipulate you data a group at a time rather than only record by records. You will take advantage of Crystal Reports Cross-tabulation wizard to create powerful summaries of large databases. In this course you will learn:

How to create and use cascading and dynamic parameters

How to use a parameter to group and sort your data

How to sort and select data based on a group total

How to create cross-tabulation reports

When to use sub-reports and how to create them

How to link sub-reports to the main report

Each class includes:

Internet meeting session. We use www.join.me or similar software. You'll see everything that the instructor is doing on the computer in real time.

A complimentary PowerPoint document reviewing the main points.

Completed Crystal reports showing the features covered in the class.

A two-hour training class and live conference call. You will call a non-toll-free number. The last half-hour will be reserved for questions.

In order to take one of these course you need the following:

A PC computer connected to the internet in some manner

High-speed internet access. Dial-up won’t work.

Telephone access in a relatively quiet room. No cell phones please. VOIP with a headset is fine.

The Cost Effective Way to Tame the Sub-Report Monster A 2 Hour Hands-On Webinar

Mastering Sub Reports and Shared Variables

If you have tried creating Crystal Reports from real data you often find that most things are easy. They become hard when the boss says, "If you can show these figures how about including these others?" And you discover that the report is no longer so easy. That’s when you need sub-reports.

Sub-reports are required in a number of situations. Here are a few:

Your main table has multiple one-to-many links to other tables.The user requires an end-of-report recap of your data summarized in a different way. You must create a formula field to properly link one table to another.You want to give the user an opportunity to expand the detailed transactions only for certain cases.You need to retrieve a summary value from another table.

Often you do not need to see the actual data from the sub-report, but only a summary value. This is where shared variables become important. Shared variables allow you to pass information from the main report, to the sub-report and back again.

Mastering sub-reports is not easy. But it is an important skill if you want to create professional reports in any data environment.

If you have any questions about your readiness to take this class please call.

Look at what people are saying!

"I did attend the sub reports class and it was fabulous. Some of the bestCrystal Reports training I have ever received. I will definitely keep my eyes out for more Hammerman classes." Mary MacAskill, WHEDA, Wisconsin

"Dr. Hammerman is a details-oriented person who knows the Business Objects productsuite like the back of his hand. He has worked with Crystal Reportsproducts since the Seagate Software days in early 2000. Howard is also anexcellent speaker/trainer who can educate his audience on the software.Thumbs Up!"

Ann Bishop, Meredith Software Consulting, Maryland

"I just wanted to say that I really appreciated Dr. Hammerman's knowledge and friendly, inclusive style of presenting the information. It was easy to see that he knew the material well but he was not intimidating and so I felt drawn in to participate. That was great! I have used Crystal Reports for several years, but I still picked up a few tips that will really help. It is always good to learn more. I am looking forward to signing up for another session on another topic in the future when it is offered."

Cathy Balch, City of Peterborough in Ontario Canada.

This class is limited to 12 students. The same information is taught in each class. The class is offered on an on-demand basis. The cost is $250 per student for the two-hour class. Call 410-430-3019﻿ to schedule your class.

Learn how to use R&R Report Writer to create the reports YOU need from HOST in the way that you want to see them. No speical skills needed.

All webinars will last for two hours. You will be sent an outline by email and can follow along with your own copy of R&R Report Writer and your own HOST database.

Please register by sending an email request or by calling Dr. Hammerman at 410-430-3019.

Dedicated on-line classes for a specific property or group of properties are also available.

RR101 - Introduction to R&R for HOST

Do you wish that one of the reports from HOST presented your information in a different way? Is there a report that you wish you had but do not? HOST provides the R&R Report Writer program so that you can create the reports thatyou want in the way that you want them.

In order to create useful reports for host you need to learn two things: (1) How to use the R&R program and (2) where to find the information that is stored in HOST. In this class we will address both topics.

This is the course for complete beginners. It assumes that you have never used R&R but that you have used

HOST to do any of the following:

Enter/edit reservations

Enter/edit group bookings

Create rate codes or packages

Extracted data for accounting purposes

Used the standard reports in HOST.

The first part of the course will be focused on using the HOST data dictionary. You will learn how to use the IN_RES, IN_GUEST, IN_TRN and IN_MISC tables. Next we will create the following reports:

A simple listing of guests.

A list of guests from a given state.

A simple arrival report.

An “arrival by market” report including sub-totals.

During the two-hour class we will cover most of the topics covered in the first four chapters of the official R&R for HOST manual. You should download this manual from our website and have it available during the seminar. There is no charge to download the manual.

RR102 - Intermediate Report Writing for HOST

You've created some simple R&R reports but now you are ready for the next steps. You need to link tables in order to get guest transactions or you need to create a group folio or owners' statement. This course continues where the Introduction course stops.

This course will focus on linking HOST tables. Along the way we will learn how to create and use calculated fields and specialized totals. We will create the following reports:

Email address for guests.

Guest transactions by department.

Arrivals and Expected Revenue by market.

Occupancy on any given date.

In this class you will learn:

The two selection rules that should be included in every reservation report.

How to associate market names with market codes.

How to link reservations to their transactions.

How to control for shared reservations.

How to speed up your reports

You should be familiar with basic R&R operations and have a copy of the data dictionary for your version of HOST.

RR201 - Spa/Golf Reports

Do you manage the spa or golf course at your property? Do you support the people that do? Would you like to increase revenue at these facilities? Would you like to know how often the various treatment rooms at your spa are used? Have you ever wondered how close to capacity your golf course is used? Do you have a clear picture of the future reservations for your facilities? Would you like to create a marketing campaign aimed at guests that used the spa or golf facilities?

If your answer to any of these questions is "YES" then this is the course for you. During this class you will learn:

The four tables essential for resort scheduling reports

How to link room reservations to resort scheduling reservations

How to create a guest itinerary

How to create a reservation calendar for spa, golf, classes or tours.

How to determine facility usage

How to calculate spa personnel productivity

How to create on-the-books reports to estimate the demand for extra personnel.

How to create time-of-day usage and demand reports.

You should not take this course if you are not comfortable creating Excel spreadsheets. It will require creating formula fields similar to those used in Excel. You should be comfortable with basic R&R operations.

RR202 - Email Marketing and Sales Reports

The data residing in your HOST database contains a wealth of information that can be used to attract previous guests to come back again. If your job involves marketing your property to transient guests or to groups you should be using the power of your HOST database to bring previous guest back to your property and to find new guests.

In this class we will show how to use this data to create both postal and email marketing lists that work. We will use previous stays, stay patterns, zip codes and profile data to determine which guests would be most likely to respond to particular offers.

We will create the following reports:

A list of guests, their physical and email address for guests that have ever stayed at your property.

The same list for guests that last stayed two years ago but have not stayed since and who are not currently on the books.

A list of people in the IN_GUEST table that have never booked.

You will learn the four ways to eliminate records that would be rejected by the US mail or which would not be deliverable through the internet. You will also learn how to use the special R&R utility programs to run the report automatically.

RR203 - Guest Profiles

Your goal as a hospitality professional is to meeting and exceed guest expectations. The HOST property management system provides a tool for gathering and using intelligence about your guests, their families, their likes and dislikes. These data are stored in the HOST database just waiting for your creativity to bring it to the surface and get it used in your day-to-day operations. In this class you will learn how to access this data and transform it into reports for your front desk, housekeeping, bell desk and concierge staff.

You will create the following reports:

Birthday list and address labels for guests and their families.

Pet birthdays and pet preferences.

Food allergies and preferences.

Special unit features requested by the guest in the past including temperature, preferred newspaper, etc.

You will learn how to link the following tables: IN_GUEST, IN_RES, IN_PLAYER, IN_PLAYER2.

Scheduled on as "as needed" basis for one property at a time.

RR204 - Revenue Management Reports

Putting “heads in the beds” is an important part of the hotel and resort business. If your job involves reservations, marketing or sales, or if you work in long range planning this course will be very useful to you. We will manipulate the data in the IN_RES table to determine occupancy patterns in general and occupancy patterns by market and room type for any date in the past or future. You will learn how to combine the current reservation table with the history table in order to create year-over-year comparisons.

By the end of the course you will be able to create PACE and REVPAR reports.

You should be familiar with R&R and have practice creating formulas in R&R or Excel in order to get the most out of this course

RR205 - Custom Folios and Registration Cards

Guest that stay at high-quality hotels expect to receive a high-quality statement at the end of their stay. Using R&R Report Writer and your HOST data, you can create folios as unique and as attractive as your property. There is no need to use pre-printed forms, and there is no need for special hardware or software. This seminar shows you how.

You will learn the following:

How to create standard folios.

How to create aging statements for group and wholesale accounts.

Create a watermark to be printed on the folio.

Use logo files.

Create multi-page folios.

Create custom messages that will be included on the folio as the seasons change.

Include variable text depending on the guest’s status or country of origin.

Create registration cards

Scheduled on as "as needed" basis for one property at a time.

RR206 - Owner/Member Statements

If your property has full or part unit owners you need to send periodic statements showing revenues and expenses for the prior fiscal period. The data for owners, their contracts and their transactions reside in the following tables: IN_TOKEN, IN_TKLINK, TS_CTRCT, TS_CONOW, TS_CLNDD, OA_OTRN, OA_HOTRN, OA_CODES. The class will focus on creating owner statements that reflect all the transactions for an owner during a given period. In this class you will learn:

How to link the relevant tables for full ownerships, quarter shares and timeshare units.

How to link the owner record to the unit contract.

How to link transactions to the contract

Scheduled on as "as needed" basis for one property at a time.

Each class includes:

Internet meeting session. You'll see everything that the instructor is doing on the computer in real time.

A complimentary PowerPoint document reviewing the main points.

Completed R&R reports showing the features covered in the class.

A two-hour training class and live conference call. You will call a non-toll-free number. The last half-hour will be reserved for questions.

In order to take one of these course you need the following:

A PC computer connected to the internet in some manner

High-speed internet access. Dial-up won’t work.

Telephone access in a relatively quiet room. No cell phones please. VOIP with a headset is fine.

A willingness to learn

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All webinars are hands-on with ample opportunity to ask questions. You will receive sign-on information and download student files prior to each class.

You can have a webinar scheduled just for YOUR organization using your data. Get a quote.